Filmus said he was extremely proud to be appointed by President Cristina Fernandez and promised to continue pushing Argentina's sovereignty claims over the Falklands.

"We know that the United Kingdom has important economic interests there in terms of hydrocarbons and fishing. We also know that the United Kingdom has interest in possibly having a military base in the region. Those are the central themes. Regarding those themes, we believe that Argentina has to ensure the value of the solidarity between all nations. Not only the Latin American countries, CELAC, Mercosur, UNASUR but rather all of the world's nations support Argentina's position," Filmus told reporters.

He added that it was "inconceivable" to him that part of the Argentine territory "is occupied by a colonial power."

Filmus, a former government minister with close ties to Fernandez, also said that the United Nationsshould reopen a dialogue between Argentina and the UK, a request pushed by Fernandez and rejected by London.

Decades-old tensions between the two countries over the sovereignty of the South Atlantic archipelago escalated recently after Argentina introduced a law seeking to block London-listed firm from drilling for oil and gas there.

The Falklands, 300 miles off the Argentine coast, are classed as a British Overseas Territory, butArgentina also lays claim to them. More than three decades after Argentina tried to invade the Falklands, the sovereignty debate elicits a nationalistic reaction from both countries.